Improvement in movable partitions or screens



Z Sheets-Sheet 1..

e. W. TRIPP MOVABLE PARTITION 0R SCREEN.

Patented July 24;,1877'.

N. PETERS PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON, D (I;

2 Sheets-Sheet 2', e. W. TRIPP. MOVABLE PARTITION. 0R SCREEN. N 193,573; Patented July 24,1877.

qym

N.PETERS. PHOTO-LITNOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON, D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orrron.

GEORGE W. TRIPP, OF AUBURN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN MOVABLE PARTITIONS OR SCREENS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l93,573, dated July 24, 1877 application filed June 1, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. TRIPP, of Auburn, in the county of Cayuga and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements'in Portable Screens or Partitions, of which the following is a specification:

The object of my invention is provide a portable screen or partition for the use of dentists and others, which can be readily adjusted to divide an oflice-room into two separate apartments, or quickly closed up into a neat and compact form out of the way; and to this end it consists in the combination of flexible screens, winding upon rolls, with portable supporting'standards, as hereinafter described.

Various portable screens have hitherto been devised, having rigid frames, which required to be removed from the room when not in use, or else placed against thewall, in which position they are unseemly and objec tionable. These objections I overcome by employing flexible screens winding upon rollers, and in the combination therewith of portable supporting-standards, so that when not required for use the screens can be wound compactly on the rolls and the standards set aside.

vFigure 1 represents a perspective view of a pair of my screens arranged to divide off a small room or apartment in the corner of a larger one, the rolls on which the screens wind being attached to the walls of the room..

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the base of one-of the standards, showing the folding arm, by means of which the standard is drawn about the room; Fig. 3, a side elevation of one of the standards having the roll attached thereto, instead of to the wall, as in the first figure; Fig. 4, an enlarged sectional view of the lower end of one of the rolls, showing its catch or detent Fig. 5, a vertical central section of a modified form of the portable standard, having two of the rolls mounted therein, and provided with folding arms to sustain the extended screens; Fig. 6, a side elevation of the same with the screens extended; Fig. 7, a

horizontal cross-section of the same with the screens closed. I

Asbefore stated, theessential and important feature of my invention is the employment of flexible screens in connection with rolls, on which they are wound when not in use, and portable standards to sustain them at one or both ends when extended.

The rolls on which the'screens wind may be 7 attached to the wall, and the free ends of the screens connected to and held by the portable standards, placed at any desired point on the floor; or the rolls may be mounted on or within the movable standards,and-the end of the screens, when they are extended, connected to hooks or other suitable fastenings on the wall of the room.

In the drawings, A represents the portable standards; B, the uprightrolls, and G the flexible screens, made of cloth or other suitable material. The standards are made of metal or of wood, with broad heavy bases to prevent them from being overturned or moved about by accident, and with casters or rollers a in the base, to admit of their being drawn about over the floor, for which purpose they are each provided with a pivoted arm or handle, b, which can be closed into a recess in the standard, out of the way, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, or turned down, as shown in Fig. 2, in

which latter position it forms a convenient handle by which to haul the standard about.

The rolls B are made of a tubular form, and

mounted on a central rod or shaft, 0, surrounded by a spiral spring, d, having one end connected to the roll and the other connected to the shaft, as shown in Fig. 3, so that it tends to turn the roll and wind the screen thereon, the lower end of the shaftc being made square and fitted into a square hole in the plate 9, by which the shaft is held stationary, the spring at being wound upon the shaft as the roll B is turned by drawing out the screen 0.

To enable the shaft, with the case and screen, to be detached without unwinding or releasing the spring, I provide a locking bolt, 6, which, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, is mounted in bearings secured to the roll or case B, in such a manner as to bring its inner end opposite holes or cavities in the shaft, into which it is forced by a spiral spring, f, as shown in Fig. 4. In order to automatically unlock the case from the shaft when placed in position, so as to leave it free to rotate,

the end of the locking-bolt e is bent at a right ings, (which is done by simply raising it far enough to lift the lower end of the shaft out of its bearing, and then drawing out the upper journal from its bearing,) the bolt 0 auto matically locks the shaft 0 fast to the roll B,

and prevents the spring from unwinding.

When replaced, the end of the bolt 6, striking on the plate g, forces it up the incline, which, in turn, draws back the bolt, and holds it back until again detached, the locking and unlocking thus being automatically effected.

When it is intended to use my scre'ens always in the same room and in the same position, the rolls may be mounted in bearings g h, attached permanently to the walls of the room, as shown in Fig. 1, in which case their free ends will be provided with eyes to engage upon corresponding hooks l on the standards, as shown in Fig. 1, the standards being placed in the proper position and the screen stretched from the rolls thereto.

When, however, the screens are not to be used always in the same position, or when it is desired to have them so arranged that they can be readily removed from one room to another, the rolls are mounted in bearings on the side of or within the movable standards, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. When the screen is mounted on the standard it is only necessary to provide the wall of the room with small hooks to receive and hold the end of the screen, the standard being placed at any desired point in the room anrli1 the screen extended therefrom to the wa When it is desired to divide 0E a small square room in the corner of a larger one, I prefer to employ two screens extended from g the walls to two standards, as shown in Fig.

1, placing the standards a short distance apart, connecting their upper ends by a yoke or cross-bar, D, and hanging a door or screen, E, to one of them, in order to close the space between them, and at the same time afford an entrance into the small apartment. As before stated, the rolls may, if preferred, be mounted within the standards, so as to be concealed and protected when not in use.

When it is desired to use the screens without connecting them to the walls, the standard may be made of sufficient size to contain two of the rolls in opposite sides, as shown in Figs..5 and 7, and provided with hinged folding arms m and 11., arranged to-turn out horizontally, so as to extendalong the upper and lower edges of the extended screens, and hold the ends of a strip or edging attached thereto, as shown in Fig. 6, thereby holding the screen in position. The edging-strips 0 of the screens and the ends of the arms m n will be arranged to engage securely with each other, and at the same time to readily disengage when the screens are to be closed.

After the closing of the screens the arms m n are folded down over one another, against the side of the standard, closing the same, and concealing the screens. They are fast- ...ened inth'e folded position by means of hooks 19 attached to the upper arms, and arranged to engage in eyes 1" secured to the edging of the screens, and arranged to protrude through slits in the arms, as clearly shown in Fig. 5.

In order to lock the rollers or casters of the standards from turning, so as to retain the standard in position, I mount on the under side of the base a sliding bar, 8, and a spiral spring, t, to push the same in one direction, and provide one of the hinged arms a with a finger, u, to act upon the bar and push it in the opposite direction, whereby it is caused to lock the rollers.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim isl. The portable screen orpartition, consisting of the movable standards A, the vertical rolls B, and the flexible screen G, combined and arranged to operate substantially as shown and described. I p

2. The folding arm b, attached to the standard A, as and for the purpose described.

3. The portable standard A, provided with wheels or rollers a, and a folding arm, b, as shown. I

4. In combination with the vertically-movable roll, containing the shaft 0 and spiral spiral spring d, the incline 1', bolt 0, and spring f, arranged to operate as shown and described.

5. In combination with a hollow portable standard, A, having a roll, B, with a flexible screen, 0, mounted therein, folding arms m n, hinged to the standard, as and for the purpose described.

6. The combination, substantially as shown and described, of a vertical roll, mounted in suitable bearings or supports, a flexible screen attached to said roll, and capable of being extended horizontally therefrom, a spring ap plied to the roll for the purpose of winding the screen thereon, and devices, substantially such as shown, for holding and sustaining the screen in its extended position.

- GEORGE W. TRIPP.

Witnesses:

HORACE '1.- (300K, HENRY (J. TRIPP. 

